ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Four Minnesota residents are willing to take a one-way trip to Mars, and they’re among the semifinalists in a fanciful program that would send humans to colonize the Red Planet with no prospect of ever coming back.

A St. Paul Pioneer Press report says the four are among about 1,060 semifinalists. The Netherlands-based nonprofit organization Mars One has selected the group as possible volunteers to travel to Mars beginning in 2024.

The plan has been criticized as unrealistic and may never come to pass. Still, the finalists say they’re still excited to make it this far. Jackson Kisling of Woodbury says he was “gurgling with excitement.”

Mars One says it received more than 200,000 applications worldwide. Each person paid a $35 application fee.

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Information in the following story is from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, http://www.twincities.com

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